u3a

City of culture logo

News

The monthly Newsletter is only for members. It is emailed unless you request a paper copy. If for any reaon you are not receiving your copy please email the Communications Team leader via the contact page.

If you can circulate the news stories below to community or church magazines that can reach new potential members, please do so. We can provide the pictures to them, just email the webmster.

See also the testimonials which describe members' experiences in meetings and groups.

Jessie

Jessie Millward

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you found something in your family history that you wanted to keep under wraps. An active member of the Bradford u3a Family History Group was alerted to this when, as a girl, she heard her Grannie talking to her aunties in hushed tones of one earlier member of the family named Jessica. Questions she asked went unanswered. Nevertheless she remained curious. After joining the Bradford u3a she began her search. So helpful did she find the Family History Group that despite having just a first name and the term Adelphi she eventually did discover Jessie and ….a murder!

Here is a photo of Jessie. Her portrait is in the National Portrait Gallery. Yes, she was a Leading Lady working in both the Adelphi and the Lyceum theatres. She became an actress in 1881 aged 20 and was soon the leading lady in Sir Henry Irving’s productions. The Leading Man was one William Terriss and they were said to be lovers.

On the night of 16th December 1897 they were playing the leading roles at the Adelphi in a play called “Secret Service”. That night was their 150th performance of the play. Jessie arrived at the theatre first and as she stepped out of her carriage a person appeared from the shadows, looked at her and then turned away. Jessie recognised him as Richard Archer Prince, an actor who had been sacked from the Adelphi a few months earlier. Jessie went into her dressing room and as she started to get ready for that night’s performance she heard William’s carriage draw up outside. She waited, with her maid Lottie, for the 2 knocks on her dressing room door that showed her William had arrived. Those 2 knocks never came. As William alighted from his carriage a dark figure rushed across the street and thrust a knife into William’s back, a second slashed his side and a third went into his chest. Jessie knew something was wrong and rushed outside to find William slumped against a wall. She lowered William to the floor and although people rushed to help, William died a few minutes later in Jessie’s arms.

Snooker Competition in Bradford.

The Bradford Club, right in the city centre, has five full sized, slate based snooker tables. The Bradford u3a Snooker Group meets there every Thursday afternoon to play. Last Thursday, however, was different. They held a Snooker Competition between three different u3a Snooker Groups - Ilkley, Settle and Bradford. Thirteen players took part.

It was all the idea of Les Chandler of Settle u3a. It came to him when he was visiting The Bradford Club for the very first time. Les said “ I was very taken by this lovely historic building but when I went upstairs and saw the Snooker Room I was blown away not only by the tables but by the grandeur of the room”. Although this was before Lockdown, Les nevertheless began to think about how to help people come together afterwards, how to do something sociable. And a snooker competition seemed to fit the bill. “I thought let’s share our love of snooker and have some fun. We might even learn from one another”. The one thing Les was sure about was that winning was not what was to be important; it was the enjoyment of playing together that was to count. And so it turned out.

The day was a great success. It was arranged in singles and doubles and every time Bernard Exley, the organiser, blew his whistle (what a noise!) they all changed round making sure everyone got a turn to play different competitors. There was a great sense of enjoyment throughout the morning and then, perhaps best of all, Bernard blew his whistle for the Pie and Pea lunch the Club provided. The dining room and the well stocked bar was buzzing with the men swopping tales of missed opportunities and successful shots!

The afternoon session proved to be just as lively and when the scores were added up George Pope of the Bradford Group was the winner. There was no prize, just the satisfaction of a day well spent with fellow snooker fans. You too, so long as you’re no longer in full time employment, can join the Bradford u3a for a minimal fee. Details are on the Bradford u3a website at https://bradford.u3asite.uk. There are 35 various Groups to chose from – not just sports but everything from Dining Out Together to Political History and so much more.

Huffing, Puffing and Laughter.

Terry Wassall, of Bradford, sighed with relief when he got back to his favourite sport – Racket Ball, only six weeks after having a hip replacement. Here he is back on the court at Heaton Tennis and Squash Club. Terry, aged 76, says “I owe my quick recovery to the fact that playing racket ball regularly made me really fit”. But he also does it for fun. 

He says that “Apart from the sounds of the rackets hitting the ball and a bit of huffing and puffing, you are most likely to hear as much laughter as anything else”. Terry plays with others belonging to the Bradford u3a Racket Ball Group – made up of retired and no longer in full time work folk. He is one of 275+ members of the Bradford u3a not all of whom are ‘racketeers’! Like the others he has access to over 30 groups which the members themselves set up and run. Subjects vary from Political History, to languages, to dining out, to creative writing to name but a few. If you would like to get fit like Terry, meet new people and hear interesting talks then all you need to know is on the Bradford u3a website at https://bradford.u3asite.uk.